A prior art mechanical wine press 101 shown in FIG. 1. The prior art wine press 101 has legs 102 supporting a reservoir 103 and a tank 105. The tank 105 is comprised of a plurality of vertical slats 106 which are retained in their respective fixed positions by an upper retaining ring 108a and a lower retaining ring 108b. The two retaining rings 108a,b have ring latches 109a,b, which when released, permit a user to open the tank 105 for emptying pressed grape skins, and when locked, retain the tank 105 in a closed position. The plurality of vertical slats 106 of the tank 105 are spaced apart from one another, creating a corresponding plurality of tank openings 107 for juice from pressed grape skins to run through.
A threaded rod 112 is aligned vertically through the central axis of the tank 105. The threaded rod 112 extends through a central opening in a press plate 110. Shown also are a plurality of removable blocks 111 disposed on top of the press plate 110. A ratchet assembly 113 engages the threads on the threaded rod 112, the ratchet assembly having a handle 114.
Prior to use of the prior art wine press 101, wine grapes are placed in a device for crushing and destemming grapes (not shown). The crushed grape skins and juice released therefrom are then contained in a barrel (not shown). The juice along with the stemless crushed grape skins may be fermented in the barrel as in the case of red wine grapes. In the case of white wine grapes, one may choose to not ferment them. Next, the ratchet assembly 113, blocks 111 and press plate 110 are removed from the threaded rod 112 of the wine press 101 and the stemless crushed grape skins and juice are placed into the tank 105 using a scoop (not shown). Free juice runs through the openings 107 located between the spaced-apart vertical slats 106 and into the reservoir 103. The tank 105 is filled substantially to the top with the crushed grape skins and the juice. The press plate 110 and rachet assembly 113 are placed over the threaded rod 112 and a first set of blocks 111 is placed therebetween.
The handle 114 of the ratchet assembly 113 is cranked slowly in a clockwise direction, thereby driving the press plate 110 gradually downwardly to press the crushed grape skins slowly to squeeze additional juice from the skins which flows through the plurality of tank openings 107 and into the reservoir 103. Once the press plate 110 has been driven to its most downward position, the handle 114 of the ratchet assembly 113 is rotated counter-clockwise so it can be removed and a second set of blocks 111 can be placed between the press plate 110 and the ratchet assembly 113. As shown in FIG. 1, a second set of two blocks are placed on top of and at a right angle to a first set of two blocks for a total of four blocks. Due to the addition of the second set of blocks 111, on the second pressing, the press plate 110 can be driven a further distance within the tank 105 to impart additional pressure upon the crushed skins and squeeze additional juice therefrom which flows through the plurality of tank openings 107 and into the reservoir 103. The reservoir is provided with a spout 104 to enable juice to run into a suitable collection basin (not shown) when the reservoir 103 becomes filled. Additional sets of blocks 111 may be added to the first and second sets of blocks 111 for successive pressings to obtain additional juice from the crushed skins. The process of adding blocks 111 in successive pressings is repeated until all of the juice has been extracted from the crushed skins. The purpose for employing successive pressings rather than extracting juice in a single pressing is to avoid spraying of the juice during pressing to ensure that the reservoir 103 collects all of the juice and none goes to waste.
When all juice has been extracted, what remains within the tank 105 is a highly compressed solid mass of pressed grape skins which is almost dry and occupies approximately the lower half of the tank 105 and resembles a wheel when removed from the tank 105. The handle 114 of the ratchet assembly 113 is rotated counter-clockwise returning the press plate 110 and blocks 111 to their initial position for removal and cleaning. The ring latches 109a and 109b may be released to open the tank 105 for gaining access to and removing the highly compressed solid mass of grape skins. Alternatively, after one or several successive pressings, additional crushed grapes may be added within the tank 105 which reduces the need for adding blocks 111.
A mechanical wine press such as the prior art one depicted in FIG. 1 is lacking in several respects. First, the mechanical nature of the wine press 101 shown in FIG. 1 requires physical exertion in the form of cranking the handle 114 of the ratchet assembly 113 in order to press the crushed grapes. Also, the user needs to crank the handle 114 in the reverse direction to return the ratchet assembly 113 to its initial position. When done repeatedly, this process can require significant time and effort. Second, as explained supra, the prior art wine press 101 employs the use of blocks 111 to enable the press plate 110 to be driven a further distance into the tank 105 to impart additional pressure and squeeze additional juice from the crushed grapes skins. Adding and removing blocks 111 is time consuming and adds complexity to the pressing process. Thirdly, applying and removing the ratchet assembly 113 adds unnecessary time and increases the complexity of the pressing process.
The wine press of the present invention overcomes these disadvantages and significantly improves speed, efficiency and ease of wine pressing over prior art presses such as that shown in FIG. 1.